Waited for Days
by JustSonya
Summary: Golden Pair Fluff. Sequel to Waited for Hours.


It had taken Eiji days to work up the courage to say anything, and even now, he wasn't sure he could actually do it. It was one thing to feel brave at home staring in his bathroom mirror and saying the words over and over to convince himself he could do this, but the reality of actually saying them to another human being was a bit more terrifying than he'd thought. Still, if he didn't say something soon, Oishi was going to start asking him what was wrong, and feeling his forehead, and fussing and worrying and then Eiji would never get the words out and another day would have passed him by without taking care of this. Or worse, they'd go to school on Monday and Oishi would find out the hard way.

He knew he'd been staring at Oishi for the past few minutes, mouth open and no sound coming out, but that didn't mean he was ready to give up on the struggle. After all, they'd overcome much bigger obstacles than this over the past several years together. They'd won tournaments, and gotten into the same high school, and there'd been that whole incident with the bus map and getting lost and ending up on the completely opposite side of the city and running out of bus fare. This was nothing, really, compared to all of that.

"Eiji?" Oishi asked, tucking the last of his schoolwork back into his bag and sliding his pen into place, before turning to look at his partner again. "Are you all right?"

He nodded, still struggling to say something, anything really, to make himself look less of a complete idiot at this point. It wouldn't take much, he knew, but he couldn't manage it. His throat and tongue were all tied up with the words he wanted to say but couldn't seem to express properly.

Oishi stared at him for a moment before smiling in understanding and moving to sit in front of him. Reaching out, he lifted Eiji's chin carefully, closing his mouth for him, clearly struggling not to grin or laugh. Once Eiji looked less like a fish, Oishi flicked the tip of his nose teasingly and began.

"You want to say something?" he asked, knowing this was obviously the case.

Eiji nodded in agreement, blue eyes staring down at his own hands dejectedly.

"And you can't figure out how to say it?" Oishi continued, nudging Eiji's chin again with his hand so that their eyes met.

Another nod, this time a bit less downcast, and with it came a meeting of eyes.

"Are you afraid of what I'll think about what you have to say?" Oishi asked.

A nervous look this time, and a tightening of fingers around each other, and a soft sound of agreement. Eiji stared at Oishi, begging for help but too proud to actually ask. Oishi was always helping him, and this was something he needed to do himself, but why was it so difficult?

"Eiji, unless what you want to tell me is that we're not going to be friends anymore, or that you hate me, there's nothing you can say that I won't understand. I might not understand right away, but I will understand. Even if I have to go away and think about it and come back, you know that I would. We're best friends, right?" Oishi stated calmly, tugging Eiji's hands apart and wrapping them in his own.

Eiji nodded, his eyes narrowing in determination. He was going to do this, no matter what. Oishi would understand, and everything would be all right. It always was, even when they fought or misunderstood each other. It always worked out in the end, didn't it?

"Oishi," he began quietly, nervously running his thumb along the side of his partner's hand.

"Yes?" Oishi asked calmly, without a hint of the indulgence such a response might normally have.

"I'm worried," Eiji blurted out, his eyes widening again with nervous excitement.

"Worried?" Oishi looked surprised, clearly not expecting this.

"Hoi!" Eiji declared. "I overheard these girls in the hall a few days ago, Oishi. They were making plans. Evil plans. Plans to do evil things to Oishi. To make Oishi do evil things. With girls! I tried to explain to them that Oishi shouldn't be abused that way, and that expecting those sorts of things from you just isn't right, but they wouldn't listen. Something had to be done."

Oishi just stared at him, stunned into silence for the moment, wondering what, exactly, had been planned for him.

"So I planned a rescue."

"A rescue?"

"Someone had to save you, Oishi." Eiji stared at him as if he were speaking nonsense. "I told them you couldn't do those sorts of things. That there were reasons you couldn't do them. I had to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"From the girls, Oishi. Pay attention. Evil things. They were planning evil things. It had to be done. I just didn't expect the rumors to spread so quickly."

"Rumors?" Oishi seemed to be waking up a bit from his stunned shock now. "What rumors, Eiji?"

"About why they couldn't do those sorts of things to you, Oishi." Eiji nodded firmly, a sage look on his face. "It was horrible, what they were planning. So I told them that if anyone was going to be trusted to do those sorts of things to you, it would be me."

"What sorts of things, Eiji?" Oishi asked, more than a bit confused now.

"Oh. This sort," Eiji replied, leaning forward and kissing him cheerfully before pulling back and grinning at him. "It wouldn't have been right, those girls doing that to you, Oishi."

Oishi stared at his partner in silence for a good solid minute before reaching out, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him back for a better kiss, earning himself a small bit of blessed silence. In return he found himself with a pleasant armful of redhead, apparently more than willing to participate eagerly. When he finally pushed Eiji back and shook his head, laughing slightly, Eiji cocked his head to the side questioningly.

"I suppose you're right, Eiji. It wouldn't have been right at all."


End file.
